Protective device



5P t 8,` 1942- R. s. BENNETT 2,295,328

PROTECTIVE DEVICE Ralph S. Bennett,

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R. S. BENNETT PROTECTIVE DEVICE Filed June 25, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Inventor. Ralph 5. Bennett,

Sept. 8, 1942.

Patented Sept. 8, 1942 PROTECTIVE DEVICE l Ralph yS. Bennett,Pittsiield, Mass., assigner to General Electric Company, a corporationloi.'

New York Application June 25, 1940, Serial No. 342,247

f 24 Claims.

My invention relates to protective devices, that is, to electricalcutouts and switches, such as of the type described in a copendingapplication S. N. 342,259, Lincks, tiled concurrently herewith,l

and which is assigned to the same assignee as this present invention. Myinvention also relates to a voltage responsive device for use with myprotective device and, although not limited thereto, my protectivedevice has features which make it particularly adapted for use as a loopsectionalizing cutout for constant current street-lighting circuits.

It is therefore an object oi my invention to provide an improvedprotective device of the above-mentioned type and also to provideanimproved voltage responsive device ior use with a protective device.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved loopsectionalizing cutout with an improved arrangement for controlling theoperation thereof so that, when an overvoltage appears in the loopcircuit to which the cutout is connected, that circuit will bepositively isolated from the line feeder circuit.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent fromthe -following description referring to the accompanying drawings, andthe features of novelty which characterize my invention will be pointedout with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part ofthis specification.-

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a sectional side elevation of asectionalizing cutout provided with an embodiment of my invention andwhich may operate without movement of its door; Fig. 2 is a front viewoi the cutout illustrated in Fig. l,

the door having been removed; Fig. 3 is a iront view of the inside ofthe door oi the cutout illustrated in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a sectional sideelevation of the cutout illustrated in Fig. 1, the slide and latchingmechanism having moved to an unlatching position; Fig. 5 is a sectionalside elevation of the voltage responsive device which is employed withthe cutout illustrated in Fig. 1; Fig, 6 diagrammatically illustrates aconstant current street-lighting circuit to which my improved cutoutarrangement finds a ready application; Fig. 'l is a sectional sideelevation of a cutout which operates with movement of its door and whichis provided with a modifica-tion of my invention; Fig. 8 is a front viewof the cutout illustrated in Fig, 7, the door having been removed; Fig.9vis a front view of the inside of the door of the cutout illustrated inFig. 7; Fig. 10 is Ia sectional side elevation of the cutout illustratedin Fig. .'l.V the door-55 and latching mechanism having moved to anunlatching position; and Fig. 11 is a skeleton view o! the conductingmembers of the cutout illustrated in Figs. 'l to 10.

1n the illustrated embodiments of my invention I provide my protectivedevice with an improved switch mechanism so that when it is appliedbetween a loop and a constant current line, this switching arrangementwhen in one position isolates the loop from the line and at the sametime short circuits the terminals in thefdevice. Il-H in Fig. 2 and68--89 in Fig. 8, which are connected to constant current lines I S-IBin Fig. 6, so that these lines may continue to feedother loops whichhave not been damaged; while, when the switching arrangement is in asecond position, it connects the loop, indicated by lines 2|-22 in Fig.6, with the constant current line. The switching arrangement is held inthis second position by my improved voltage responsive device,illustrated in Fig. 5, through a movable part, such as a slide, 21 inFig. 1, or door, 61 in Fig. '1, the switching arrangement being allowedto move to its iirst position when the slide or door moves to acorresponding first or unlatching position. In addition to causing aswitching operation the movable part performs the function of providingan indication that the switching operation has taken place, When themovable part is the door, my improved voltage responsive device maycontrol the operation thereof through an operative connection such as alatching arrangement including slides 81, 88 and hooks 93, 94, see Figs.'l to 11, and, when the movable part is the slide, it may be held in itssecond position by direct contact with the voltage responsive device.The movable partis moved from a second to a first position in anysuitable way, such as through the force of biasing springs, 45 in Fig. 1and 89 in Fig. 7, and the device which holds the part in its secondposition is an electric discharge device having electrodes 41 and 48disposed to define a gap 52 and an arrangement which moves in responseto a predetermined arcing across the gap. This movement which allows theholding device to release the movable part may be accomplished in anysuitable manner, such as by mounting the electrodes for relativemovement. The electrodes are normally disposed to dene a gap, however,so that, when an overvoltage is impressed across the electrodes arcingwill appear across the gap causing the relatively movable electrodes tobe actuated, thereby removing the restraining force of the operatingdevice from they. slide or latching mechanism which, therefore,

moves under the force of the biasing arrangement so that the switchingarrangement may move from its second to its First-mentioned position.The latching arrangement, which may include the slide mounted on thedoor of the cutout and a hook mounted on the housing, may be thereforeemployed with the voltage responsive device where it is desired tocontrol the operation of a switching arrangement from its second to itsfirst position by movement of the door which is pivoted on the housing,while only the slide need be ernployed with the control device where itis desired to effect operation or" the switching arrangement withoutmovement of the door, that is, through movement of the slide.

Proceeding now with a more detailed description of my invention andreferring to Figs. l to 4, I have illustrated a loop sectionalizingcutout being provided with an embodiment of my invention which may beefciently applied in a constant current street-lighting circuit,However, it is to be understood that my invention may be applied to anyother suitable electric protective device, and it is also to beunderstood that my improved cutout structure may be applied in any othercircuit where it is desired to positively disconnect a burden 'circuitfrom a source of potential upon the occurrence of an overvoltage. Thecutout includes a housing I and a door II which is pivoted to thehousing at I2, The housing is provided with terminals I3 and I4 whichmay be connected to the feeder lines I and I6, re-

spectively. These feeder lines, which are dia-I grammaticallyillustrated in Fig. 6, may be connected to a constant current source I1which is in turn connected to constant potential lines I8. The housingalso carries, at the opposite end from the terminals I3 and I4,terminals I9 `and 2II which may be connected to lines 2I and 22 of theloop. In order that the line terminals I3 and I4 may be connected with aswitching arrangement, I provide contacts 23 and 24 which are rigidlyconnected to the line terminals I3 and I4, respectively. These contacts23 and 24 are also provided with resilient parts 23a and 24a,respectively, whose function will become obvious as the descriptionproceeds. Adapted to cooperate with the contacts 23 and 24, I providecontacts 25 and 2B, which are in turn mounted on a movable part, such asa slide member 21, by

from the slide member 2l' and which in turn slide in cooperating slotmembers and 3|. The slide is mounted on the door since this provides aconvenient Way of removing the slide from the cutout by merely removingthe door from the housing. The slide could, of course, be mounted on thehousing if desired. The contacts 25 and 26 are electrically connected tobus bars 32 and 33 which are supported at the base of the door by bolts34. This electrical connection between the Contact 25 and bus bar 32 ismade through a pigtail 35 which is electrically connected to the formerthrough a bolt 36 and to the latter through a bolt 31. The contact 26and bus bar 33 are similarly electrically connected in order that theline terminal I4 may be connected to the loop terminal 20 through thecontact 26 and bus bar 33. In order that the bus bar 32 may make contactwith the terminal I8, I provide the bus bar 32 with an angularlyextending portion 38. This extending portion 38 is provided with a hookportion 39 which cooperates with the pivot I2 which is integrallyconnected with the terminal I9. The terminal I9 is also provided with aresilient portion I9a which cooperates with the outwardly extendingportion 38 of the member 32. Thus, the bus bar 32 makes electricalcontact with the terminal I9 through its extension 38 and the springcontact ISa and pivot member I2. The terminal 20 and the bus bar 33 havesimilar cooperating portions for electrically and pivotally connectingthe terminal 20 and bus bar 33 together. It will be seen, therefore,that, when the parts of the cutout are in the second position asillustrated in Fig. l, the electrical circuit is made from the lineterminal I3 through the contacts 23 and 23a to the contact 25. Thecircuit may then be traced through the pigtail 35 to the bus bar 32which is electrically connected through its angularly extending portion38 to the loop terminal I9. The electrical circuit may then be tracedaround the loop through the lines 22, 2|, as shown in Fig. 6, back tothe opposite loop terminal 20, and from the terminal 20 the electricalcircuit may be traced to the bus bar 33 and the pigtail connection tothe contact 26, the latter, when in a position as shown in Fig. 1, beingelectrically connected to the contacts 24 and 24a. The Contact 24 is, of

course, rigidly connected to the other line terminal I4.

When such a cutout as described above is connected between a feeder lineand a loop as illustrated in Fig. 6, it is important, if a fault occursin the loop, to be able to isolate the loop and, at

\ the same time, short circuit the terminals I3 and I4, so that theremaining loops will not be kept out of circuit with the source. I havealready described the contact arrangement whereby the loop iselectrically connected to the feeder lines, and I shall describe belowthe voltage responsive device or holding mechanism for the cutout andthe structure by which the cutout isolates the loop when it lbecomesfaulty and, at the same time, short circuits the terminals I3 and I4.

In order to provide a suitable arrangement for short circuiting theterminals I3 and I4, I provide a bus bar 40 which is carried by a springmember 4I. The spring member 4I is biased by its inherent resiliency toforce the bus bar 40 towards the contacts 23 and 24, as will be seen inFig. 2. It will be seen, therefore, that it is necessary to provide anarrangement for holding the bus bar 40 away from the contacts 23 and 24when it is desired that the loop should be electrically connected withthe feeder lines. This is accomplished through the slide member 21 andthe voltage responsive device which will be described later. Since theswitching arrangement may move from its second to its first positionthrough the sliding action of the slide, movement of the door is notnecessary for the operation of the cutout illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4.However, since I have found it desirable to mount the slide on the door,an arrangement must be provided for holding the door in its closedposition during the time the switching arrangement is in its secondposition. In order to accomplish this, I provide the slide member 21with an inclined portion 42 which catches behind a hook portion 43 oft-he spring member 4I, the inclined portion 42 of the slide 21 and thehook portion 43 of the spring member 4I providing a latcliingarrangement for holding the door in its closed position when theswitching arrangement is in its second position, It is to be understood,however, that any othersultable arrangement may be employed for holdingthe door in its closed position. In order to hold the slide member 21 inthe -sive arrangement, such as a meltable member` 58 position asillustrated in Fig. l. which I call its second or latching position, Iprovide an improved voltage responsive device 44 for releasably holdingthe movable part in such a position. The slide member 21 is normallybiased toits iirst or unlatching position by spring members 45 so thatthe contacts 25 and 28 tend to move away from the contacts 22 and 24.These spring members are connected at one end to the slide memberthrough the bolts '35 and. at the other end, the spring members areconnected to the relatively stationary door portion through the bolts81. 'Ihe slide member 21 is held in its upward or second positionagainst the force of the biasing springs 45 by the device 44 by direct.contact therewith through an inclined portion 45 on the slide. Thedevice 44 is in turn held in the position illustrated in Fig. 1 by asupporting arrangement which includes the bus bars 32 and 38.

The structure of my improved voltage responsive or control device,whereby a suitable movable .-part, such as the slide or latching meansis allowed to move to its rst or unlatching position when a fault occurson the loop, will now be described. Referring to Fig. 5, my improveddevice includes an electric discharge device having a mechanism movablein response to an overvoltage, such as relatively movable electrodes 41and 48. 'I'hese electrodes are slidably supported on a supportingarrangement which includes plate members 49 and 50. The plate member 49has a hole 49a through which the electrode 41 passes, and the platemember 50 has a similar hole 50a through which the electrode 48` passes.The plate members 49 and 58 are in turn supported by a tubular member5I. This tubular member may be of any suitable type, such as a nonlinearresistance material, such as described in Patent No. 1,971,194,McEachron'et al., or it may be an insulating material, such asporcelain, as described in a copending application Serial Number342,282, Allen, both being assigned to the same assignee as the presentinvention. The electrodes `41 and 48 are normally disposed to deiine agap 52 between their inwardly extending ends and their opposite ends areprovided with head portions 53 and 54, respectively. The function of theheads 53 and 54 will become apparent when I describe below the operationof my improved operating device as applied to the cutout which hasalready been described. The relatively movable electrodes 41 and 48 arepositioned or biased toward each other so as to dene a gap 52 by anarrangement which includes spring members 55 and 55. The spring member55 is disposed between the supporting member 49 and a-shoulder 51 whichis near the inner end of the electrode 41. The spring member 56 is alsodisposed between the supporting member 50 and a shoulder 58 of theelectrode 48. Thus the spring members 55 and 56 cause the electrodes 41and 48 to move toward each other until the heads 53 and 54 abut againstthe outside surfaces of the supporting arrangement 49 and 50. In orderto provide an arrangement for causing the electrodes 41 and 48 to moveoutwardly when an overvoltage occurs, I provide a spring member 59 whichis releasably held between the collar member 58 and a heat responsivemeans. The spring member 59 is held, therefore, in compression since theend of the spring adjacent the gap is restrained from moving toward theelectrode 41 by the heat-responwhich is disposed over the end oi thespring which is adjacent the gap 52.

The operation of my improved voltage responsive device whichjsillustrated in Fig. 5 is vas follows: The gap 52 may be designedl to arcover when an overvoltage within a predetermined range orof a particularvalue is impressed across the electrodes 41 and 48. In order to be ableto variably distance the electrodes 41 and 48, I provide an adjustingarrangement which includes a threaded member 5I which cooperates with athreaded portion of the head member 54. Thus, when the overvoltage isreached at which the Zap is designed to arc over, suilicie'nt heat willbe developed by the arc to cause the member 80 to melt. Instead ofemploying a member which will melt upon the application of heat due toarcing across the electrodes, any other suitable arrangement which maybe designed to perform the same function as the meltable member 60 maybe employed. Thus the force of the spring 59 will. cause the en'd of thespring adjacent the gap member to move toward the electrode 41 when theheat-responsive arrangement overheats. 'I'he spring member 59 isdesigned so as to have a greater force than the combined effect of thesprings and 58 so that, when the end of ther spring 59 contacts theshoulder member 51, it will push the electrode 41 outwardly against theforce of the spring member-55. The spring member 59 will also pushagainst the shoulder member 58 and push the electrode 48 outwardly.Thus, the heads 53 and 54 will move away from the plate members 49 and50, respectively, and portions of the electrodes 41 and 48 of relativelysmaller diameters will extend through the holes 49a and 50arespectively. If desired, the electrodes could be relatively stationaryand any other suitable arrangement employed which Will allow relativemovement between the housing and device. I may, therefore, make use ofthis movement of the electrodes to effect any desired control operation,and, when my improved device is applied in connection with the cutoutdescribed above, the outward movement of the heads 53 and 54 will causemy device 44 to tend to move away from the slide member 21, thusallowing the latter to move with the device 44 to a first or unlatchingposition under the influence of the biasing springs 45.

My improved operating device is supported in an. emcient manner by th'ecutout device so as to make use of the movement of the electrodes. Thissupporting arrangement includes portions 82 and 63 which are integralwith the bus bars 32 and 33, respectively. The portion 62 has a slot 54which is of slightly larger width than the diameter of that portion ofthe electrode 41 which is immediately adjacent its head member 53. Theextending portion 63 of the bus bar 99 is similarly provided with aslot. The extensions 52 and 83 are so situated that, when the heads 53and 54 of my operating device are against the plates 49 and 50, theheads 53 and 54 will be supported by the outer edges of the slots asshown in Fig. 1. Thus, the device 44 is suspended by the head members 53and 54 between the supporting members 82 and 63. When the meltablemember, however, melts so that the` electrodes will move to theiroutward position, s

portions of the electrodes will extend outside the plates 49 and 50which portions are of smaller diameter than that of the heads. Since thediameter of these portions of the electrodes are less than the width ofthe slot member 64 and since the electrodes move outwardly a distancegreater than the thickness of the portion 62 around the slot 64, theportions of the electrodes adjacent the heads will move into the slotsuntil they rest on the curved portions at the bottom of the slots asshown in Fig. Ll. Grooved portions 65 are provided around the slots soas to accommodate the heads 53 and 54. It will be seen, therefore, thatas the body of the operating device I4 tends to move away from the slidemember, the slide member will move with it away from the hook member 43under the force of the biasing springs 45. The slide member will movedownwardly until its inclined portion 46a strikes the body portion 5i ofthe device. This downward movement oi the slide or latch mechanism willcause my switching arrangement, which includes the contacts 25, 26 andcooperating contacts 23, 2l and short-circuiting bar 40, to movedownwardly or to their rst position to which they are biased. Thecontacts and 26 will move until they no longer contact the springportions 23a and 24a of their cooperating contacts and, in which time,the short-circuiting bar 46 will have already contacted the contacts 23and 24 to short circuit them.

In view of the foregoing, it will be seen, therefore, that I haveprovided an improved cutout with a movable part such as a slide which,when in its second or latching position, will hold the switchingarrangement in position such that the loop is connected in series withthe line. However, upon operation of my improved voltage responsivedevice, my slide moves to its nrst or unlatching position so that theswitching arrangement will isolate the loop and short circuit theterminals of the line. It may be noted from an inspection of Fig. 4,that the slide when in its first position performs the additionalfunction of giving an indication that a predetermined voltage hasappeared across the gap, since the end protrudes from the housing. Itwill be further noted that the above operation is accomplished withoutrequiring the door H to drop out. Thus, if for any reason the door Il isheld closed, such as by sleet, my improved cutout will still operate.Thus, movement of the door is unnecessary in the above described cutoutto cause operation thereof. II", however, it is desired to have astructure wherein the door vmust drop out before the switchingarrangement operates, my improved sectionalizing cutout as illustratedin Figs. '1 through 11 maybe employed.

Referring to Figs. '1 through 1l, I have illustrated a drop outsectionalizing cutout which employs a latching arrangement forcontrolling the movement of the switching arrangement and V voltageresponsive device for initiating the movement of the latchingarrangement toward its unlatching position, the device for controllingthe operation being similar to that shown in Fig. 5.

The cutout includes a housing 66, a movable part, such as a dropout door61, and terminals 68 and 69 which are mounted near the top of thehousing and which may be connected with the feeder line. The housingalso contains terminals 10 and 1| which are mounted at the bottom of thehousing and which may be connected to the lines of the loop. Theterminal `68 is pivotally connected to a contact 12 and, as will be seenin Fig. 8, this contact 12 is biased to move to the right when lookinginside the housing 66 with the cover removed. This contact is mounted onthe terminal 68 through a bolt 13, and a spring member 14 surrounds thebolt 13 to cause the contact 12 to be biased as described above.Terminal 69 has a contact 15 similar to the contact 12, the contact 15being supported by the terminal 69 similar to the supporting arrangementfor the contact 12, but biased to move to the left when viewing theinside of the housing with the cover off..Y Thus, the contacts 12 and 16tend to abut against each other as illustrated in Fig. 8 and, sincethese contacts are electrically connected to the terminals 68 and 69,respectively, when the contacts 12 and 15 are allowed to move towardeach other under the force of their biasing springs, a short-circuitingpath is provided between the terminals 68 and 69. Such a condition, ofcourse, is desired when a fault occurs in the loop. The cover 61 isprovided with bus bars 16 and 11 so as to provide an arrangement formaking contact between the terminals 88 and 10, and 69 and 1l,respectively. The bus bar 16 is provided at its upper end with prongs 18and 19 which have inclined surfaces 18a and 19a which are adapted tocooperate with outwardly extending portions and 8|, respectively, on thecontact 12. moved to its closed position as shown in Fig. 7, the prongs18 and 19 will abut against the outwardly extending portions 80 and 8|of the contact 12 and rotate it to the left, against the force of itsbiasing spring. The bus bar 16 is also provided with a resilient guidingmember 82 which surrounds the opposite side of the contact 12 from thatcontacted by the prongs 18 and 19. These details may be clearly seen inFig. 11. Thus, the Contact 12 upon closing of the cover 61 is rotated tothe left and tightly held between the prongs 18 and 19 and the resilientcontact piece 82. The bus bar' 11 is similarly provided lwithprongs anda resilient guiding piece so as to move the contact 15 to the right andto make contact therewith. Therefore, when the cover is in the closedposition as illustrated in Fig. 7, contact 12 is moved away from thecontact 15 and, in addition, contact 12 makes electrical contact withthe bus bar 16 through the prongs 16 and 19 and resilient member 82.Similarly, the bus bar 11 moves the contact 15 away from the contact 12and makes contact therewith. At the bottom of the bus bar 16, there isprovided an extending pivot 83 and a resilient contact member 84. TheContact 84 is supported by and electrically connected to the bus bar 16by a bolt 85. A slot 86 is provided in the terminal 10 into which thepivot 83 may be placed when the cover 61 is attached to the housing 66.Contact is, therefore, provided between the bus bar 16 and the terminal18 through the sides of the slot 86, pivot 83, and resilient contact 8d,which abuts against the outside edge of the terminal 10. The bus bar 11is also provided with a pivot 83 and resilient contact 84, and terminal1| is also provided with a slot 86, so that the bus bar 11 may makeelectrical connection with the terminal 1I when the cover is attached tothe housing.

In order to provide a latching arrangement for holding the cover in theposition illustrated in Fig. 7, I provide two slide or bar members 81and 88 which are slidably mounted on the bus bars 16 and 11,respectively, through suitable holes in portions thereof. The slide 81is biased downwardly by the force of a spring member 89 which abuts atthe top on the relatively stationary prong 19 of the bus bar 16 and atthe bottom the spring member 89 abuts against a bracket member 90 whichis integral with the bottom of Thus, when the cover is the slide member81. A bottom portion 8| of the bracket member 80 in turn abuts againstthe plate member 49 of my device M. The slide member 88 of the bus bar11 is similarly provided with a biasing spring and a bracket member. Thedevice 48 is supported by a supporting ar-y rangement which includesgrooves 92 which are placed at the base of the bus bars 18 and 11. Thus.the operating device M is supported in grooves by the bus bars 18 and11, as was the device 44 by the edges of the grooves in the cutoutillustrated in Fig. 1. It will be noted that the voltage appearingacross the terminals ot the cutout also appears across the terminals ofthe gap of the device M.

The operation of the cutout illustrated in Figs. 7 through 11 isas'iollows: When the heads 83 and 84 move outwardly due to some faultcausing an overvoltage in the loop. the portions ofthe electrodes oflesser diameter adjacent the heads will pass into the grooves 92. Thisoperation is the same as that which was described in connection withFigs. 1 through 4. This will cause the f device M to move downwardly inthe grooves and allow the slide members 81 and 88 to move downwardly orto an unlatching or rst position under the force of their biasing'springs 89. I'he top ends of the slides 81 and 88 which are normallyheld behind hook members 93 and 94, respectively, move downwardly out ofthe range of the hook members 93 and 94. Since the center of gravity ofthe door is to the right of: the pivot 83 and, further, since the forcesof the spring members 1l normally tend to push the prong members 18 and19 outwardly, the door will drop open when the latch which includes theslides 81 and 88 and hooks 93 and 84 move out of operative engagementorto theirunlatchlng position. Upon this movement, the circuit will bebroken between contact 12 and the prongs 18, 19. Similarly, the prongsof bus bar 11 will move out of engagement with contact 1 5, thus causingthe loop to be isolated from the line terminals 88 and 89. Furthermore,in order not to have the remaining serially connected loops remainunconnected with the line, the contacts 12 and 15 under the force oftheir biasing springs will move toward each other until they shortcircuit the terminals 88 and 89. It may be noted from an inspection ofFig. 10, that the movable door gives an indication that a predeterminedvoltage has appeared across the gap.

Thus, in the cutout illustrated in Figs. 'I through 1l, I have provideda cutout of the dropout type wherein, upon actuation through my improvedvoltage responsive device, the latching arrangement will move to itsunlatching position so that the door will drop open. Thus. the loop willbe isolated and the line contacts short circuited as the switchingmechanism/moves from one position, where the loop and line terminals areconnected together, to a second position.

In view of the foregoing, it will be seen that I have provided animproved voltage responsive device which provides for relative movementof its electrodes upon an overvoltage being impressed across its gap.This movement of the electrodes may be used in any suitable manner and,in the cutouts described above, this movement has been eillcientlyemployed to operate a slide or latching arrangement from a second to aiirst or unlatching position so that the switching arrangement mayetlect the desired circuit opening and closing operations.

Modifications of the particular arrangements 75 which I have disclosedembodying my invention will occur to those skilled in the art, so that Ido not desire my invention to be limited to the particular arrangementsset torth and I intend in the appended claims to cover allmodiiications` which do not depart from the spirit and scope o1 myinvention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by ,Lettes Patent of the Unitedstates is:

1. A voltage responsive device including relatively movable electrodes,resilient means positioning said electrodes to denne a gap, actuatingmeans mounted on one of said electrodes for causing relative movementthereof and heat-responsive means for restraining said actuating means,said heat-responsive means being so constructed and arranged to releasesaid actuating means upon becoming overheated, said" gap being ,sopositioned to allow arcing thereacross upon an over-voltage appearingacross said electrodes, said arcing causing said heat-responsive meansto overheat so that said actuating means will overcome said positioningmeans and cause relative movement between said electrodes.

2. A voltage responsive device including relatively movable electrodes,resilient meansl positioning said electrodes to dene a gap, second-resilient means for causing relative movement of said electrodes, and`means including heat-responsive means for restraining said' secondresilient means, said heat-responsive means being so constructed andarranged to release said second resilient means upon becomingoverheated, `said gap being so positioned to allow arcing thereacrossupon an overvoltage appearing across said electrodes, said arcingcausing said heatresponsive means to overheat so that said secondresilient means will overcome said iirstgresilient means and causrelative movement of said electrodes.

43. A voltage responsive device including relatively movable electrodes,supporting means for said electrodes, a collar on one of saidelectrodes,

resilient means disposed between'said supporting electrodes, said arcingcausing said heat-respony sive means to overheat so that said secondresilient means will overcome said ilrst resilient means and causerelative movement of said electrodes.

4. A voltage respons/ive device including relatively movable electrodes,supporting means for said electrodes, collar members on each of saidelectrodes, spring means between said collar and said support of each ofsaid electrodes for positioning said electrodes to deilne a gap, secondresilient means for causing relative movement of said electrodes, andheat-responsive means for restraining said second resilient means, saidl heat-responsive means being so constructed and arranged to releasesaid actuating means upon becoming overheated, said gap being soposiovercome said iirst resilient means and cause relative movement ofsaid electrodes.

5. A voltage responsive device including relatively movable electrodes,tubular supporting means for slidably supporting at least one of saidelectrodes, resilient means within said tubular supporting means forpositioning said electrodes to denne a gap, heat-responsive means,spring means for actuating 'said relatively movable electrodes, meansincluding said heat-responsive means for restraining said spring means,said heat-responsive means being so constructed and arranged to releasesaid actuating means upon becoming overheated, and means for connectingsaid electrodes across a source of potential having a normal voltagevalue, said gap being so positioned to allow arcing thereacross upon anovervoltage appearing across said electrodes, said arcing causing saidheat-responsive means to overheat so that said spring may actuate saidrelatively movable electrodes.

6. A device for controlling the operation of an electric protectivedevice including relatively movable electrodes, means positioning saidelectrodes to denne a gap, one of said electrodes having a heatresponsive means and an abutment, spring means for actuating saidrelatively movable electrodes, said spring means being releasably heldbetween said heat responsive means and said abutment, and means forconnecting said electrodes across a source of potential having a, normalvoltage value, said gap being so positioned to allow arcing thereacrossupon an over-voltage appearing across said electrodes, said arcingcausing said heat responsive means to overheat so that said spring maybe released so as to cause relative movement between said electrodes.

7. A voltage responsive device for a switch including relatively movableelectrodes, supporting means for said electrodes, collar members on eachof said electrodes, spring means between said support and said collar ofeach of said electrodes, means including said spring means forpositioning said electrodes to denne a gap, a. meltable member, secondspring means for actuating said relatively movable electrodes, saidsecond spring means being held in compression between said meltablemember and said collar of one of said electrodes, and means forconnecting said electrodes across a source of potential having a normalvoltage value, said gap being so positioned to allow arcing thereacrossupon an overvoltage appearing across said electrodes, said arcingcausing said member to melt so that said second spring may causerelative movement between said electrodes.

8. A voltage responsive device for a cutout including relatively movableelectrodes, supporting means for said electrodes, collar members on eachof said electrodes, spring means between said support and said collar ofeach of said electrodes, means including said spring means forpositioning said electrodes to define a gap, a meltable member carriedby one of said electrodes adjacent said gap, second spring means foractuating said relatively movable electrodes, said second spring meansbeing held in compression between said meltable member and said collarof one of said electrodes, and means for connectling said electrodesacross a source of potential having a normal voltage value, said gapbeing so positioned to allow arcing thereacross upon an overvoltageappearing across said electrodes, said arcing causing said member tomelt so that said second Spring may cause relative movement between saidelectrodes.

9. A voltage responsive device for a cutout including electrodes, one ofsaid electrodes having a collar and an enlarged head, supporting meansfor said electrodes, said one oi said electrodes being movably supportedbetween said collar and p said head, spring means between said supportand said collar for holding said head of said one of said electrodesagainst said support and for positioning said one ofsaid electrode todeline a gap with said other electrode, actuating means for saidrelatively movable electrodes, and heat-responsive means for releasablyrestraining said actuating means between said means and said collar,said gap being so positioned to allow arcing thereacross upon anovervoltage appearing across said electrodes, said arcing causing saidheat-responsive means to overheat so that said actuating means may bereleased so as to cause movement of said one of said electrodes.

10. A voltage responsive device for a cutout including movableelectrodes, said electrodes each having a collar and an enlarged head, asupporting means for said electrodes, said electrodes being movablysupported between said collar and said head, spring members between saidsupport and said collar of each of said electrodes for holding saidheads of each of said electrodes against said support and forpositioning said electrodes to denne a gap, meltable member, springmeans for actuating said relatively movable electrodes, said springmeans being held in compression between said meltable member and saidcollar of one of said electrodes, and means for connecting saidelectrodes across a source of potential having a normal voltage value,said gap being so positioned to allow arcing thereacross upon anovervoltage appearing across said electrodes, said arcing causing saidmember to melt so that said spring means may cause movement oi saidelectrodes.

11. In a control device for a switch, a switchactuating means, asupporting means releasably supporting said switch-actuating means,electrodes movably supported in said supporting means and having endspassing therethrough, means including said supporting means positioningsaid electrodes to define a gap, and means responsive to arcing acrosssaid electrodes to allow said ends which pass through said support tomove thereby permitting movement of said supporting means and releasingsaid switch means to cause actuation of the switch,

12. A switch including a housing, a door pivoted to said housing, meansmovably mounted on said door, a voltage responsive device havingrelatively movable electrodes normally disposed to define a gap, meansfor biasing said movable means in one position, means including saiddevice for releasably holding said movable means in a. second position,and means for connecting said electrodes across a source of potentialhaving a normal voltage value, said gap being so positioned to allowarcing thereacross upon an overvoltage appearing across said electrodes,said arcing causing relative movement of said electrodes so that saidmeans can move to said one position under the inuence of its baisingmeans.

13. A cutout including terminals adapted to be connected to feederlines, a switch mechanism biased to one position, a slide for holdingsaid switch mechanism in a second position, said switch mechanismproviding a short-circuiting path between said terminals when in saidone position and when in said second position providing a conductingpath between said feeder lines and a loop circuit, a device havingmovable f electrodes being normally disposed to define a gap, meansincluding said device for restraining relatively movable in response topredetermined arcing across said gap, and means including said devicefor restraining said latching members in their latching position, saidrestraining means being removable uponrelative movement of saidelectrodes so as to allow relative movement of said latching membersunder the influence of their biasing means to said unlatching position.

15. A cutout including a switch mechanism, a slide member, a hookmember, said slide and hook members being cooperable to providerlatching members, means biasing said members for relative movement toan unlatching position, a device having movable electrodes normallydisposed to denne a gap, means including said device for restrainingsaid latching members in their latching position, said switch mechanismbeing operable upon movement of said slide member, said restrainingmeans being removable upon movement of said electrodes so as to allowrelative movement of said latching members under the iniluence of theirbiasing means whereby said switch mechanism is allowed to operate.

16. A cutout including terminals, said terminals being adapted to makeelectrical connection with feeder lines, a switch mechanism biased toone position, means including a movable part vior holding said switchmechanism in a second position, said switch mechanism providing ashortcircuiting path between said terminals when in said one position,voltage responsive device having movable electrodes being normallydisposed to denne a gap, means including said device for restrainingsaid part so that said switch mechanism is held in its second position,said restrainlng means being removable upon movement of said electrodeswhereby said switch mechanism may move to said nrst position.

17. In an electric protective device, a part movable from one positionto another position for accomplishment of a predetermined function,mechanism operatively connected with said part for releasably holdingsaid part in one of said positions, said mechanism including an electricdischarge device having electrodes disposed to detlne a gap, meansmovable to extend from said discharge device, a slot adjacent saidextendible means, and heat-responsive means adjacent said gap forreleasably restraining said extendible means against movement into saidslot, said heat.. responsive means being operative to release saidextendible means so that it may move into said slot in response topredetermined arcing across said gap so that said mechanism may releasesaid'part in order that said part may move to I said other of saidpositions.

18. A cutout including a movable part, a device having electrodesdisposed to define a gap, a support for said device, means biasing saidpart in.

one position, said device being positioned on said support andoperatively connectedfwith said part to restrain it in a secondposition, and means movable to extend from said device uponpredetermined arcing appearing across said gap, said support havingmeans cooperable with said extendible means upon its movement so as toallow relative movement between said support and said device, saidrelative movement between said device and support allowing therestraining eiect of said device to be removed so that said part maymove to said ilrst position.

19. A cutout including a part movable from a non-indicating to anindicating position, a device having relatively movable electrodesnormally disposed to define a gap and heat-responsive means adjacentsaid gap, means including said heat-responsive means for causing saidelectrodes to maintain said gap dening position, a support for saiddevice, said supporty being so constructed and arranged to allowrelative movement between said device and said support upon relativemovement of said electrodes, said device and said support providing ameans for releasably holding said part in said non-indicating position,and means for connecting said electrodes across a source of potentialhaving .a normal voltage value, said gap being so positioned to allowarcing thereacross upon an over-voltage appearing across saidelectrodes, said arcing causing said heatresponsive means to overheat soas to allow relative movement of said electrodes whereby said devicemay'move relative `to said support so that said part may move to saidindicating position.

20. A circuit breaker including a movable member, a device havingelectrodes disposed to dene a gap, a support for said device having aslot, means movably supported by said device and arranged to move intosaid slot, means for biasing said movable member to one position, saiddevice being positioned on said support and operatively connected withsaid movable member to restrain it in a second position, said movablysupported means being movable into said slot upon predetermined arcingappearing across said gap so that the restraining action of said deviceis removed thereby allowing said movable member to move under theinfluence of its biasing means to said one position.

21. A cutout including a latch means, a device having relatively movableelectrodes normally disposed to define a gap, a support for said devicehaving a slot, means extendible from said device and arranged to moveinto said slot upon movement of said relatively movable electrodes,means for biasing said latch means to an unlatching position, saiddevice being positioned on said support and operatively connected withsaid latch means to restrain it in its latching position, and means forconnecting said electrodes across a source of potential having a normalvoltage value, said gap being so positioned to allow arcing thereacrossupon an overvoltage appearing across said electrodes, said arcingcausing relative movement of said electrodes so that said extendiblemeans may move into said slot so thatthe restraining action of saiddevice is removed thereby allowing said latch means to move under theinuence of its biasing means toits unlatching position.

22. A cutout including a slide member, a hook member, said slide andhook members being cooperable to provide latching members, means forbiasing said members for relative movement to an unlatching position, adevice having relatively movable electrodes normally disposed to definea gap, a support for said device having slots, means movably supportedon said device and arranged to move into said slots upon movement ofsaid relatively movable electrodes, means for biasing said latch meansto an unlatching position, said device being positioned on said supportand operatively connected with said slide to restrain said latch membersin their latching position, and means for connecting said electrodesacross a source of potential having a normal voltage value, said gapbeing so positioned to allow arcing thereacross upon an overvoltageappearing across said electrodes, said arcing causing relative movementof said electrodes so that said movably supported means may move intosaid slots so that the restraining action of said device is removedthereby allowing said latch means to move under the infiuence of itsbiasing means to its unlatching position.

23. A cutout including a switch mechanism biased in one position, aslide for holding said switch mechanism in a second position, a hookmember, said slide and hook members being cooperable to provide latchingmembers, means for biasing said members for relative movement to anunlatching position, a device having relatively movable electrodesnormally disposed to dene a gap, a support for said device having slots,portions of said electrodes extendible from said device and arrangedwhen extended to move into said slots upon relative movement of saidelectrodes, means for biasing said latch means to an unlatchingposition, said device being positioned on said support and operativelyconnected with said slide to restrain said latch members in theirlatching position, and means for connecting said electrodes across asource of potential having a normal voltage value, said gap being sopositioned to allow arcing thereacross upon an overvoltage appearingacross said electrodes, said arcing causing relative movement of saidelectrodes so that said extendible portions may move into said slots sothat the restraining action of said device is removed thereby allowingsaid latch means to move under the influence of its biasing means to itsunlatching position so that said switch mechanism may move to its iirstposition.

24. A cutout including a part movable from one position to another toaccomplish a predetermined function, a device having electrodes sodisposed that adjacent ends define a gap, a support for said devicehaving slots, said ends of said electrodes remote from said gap havingportions of a diameter slightly less than the width of said slots andhead portions oi' a diameter slightly larger than the width of saidslots, said heads' of said device being so positioned on the edges ofsaid slots and said device being operatively connected with said movablepart so that said device may releasably restrain said part in said oneposition, said heads being movable away from said slots uponpredetermined arcing appearing across Said gap so that said portions ofsaid electrodes of relatively lesser diameter may be movable into saidslots so that the restraining action of said device is removed therebyallowing said part to move to said other position.

. RALPH S. BENNETT.

